Sense of Victory

Sense of Victory


         It was a day she never saw coming, a day when she would be able to get up off the old wooden bench and experience the intimidation of all eyes on her as she would step onto the court  to live up the “Lady Oriole” legacy. The intense basketball game was rapidly coming to an end with only a minimal point spread between the Hartford Orioles and the West Bend West Spartans. The crowd began to go silent as  tension from the nerve-wracking game filled the atmosphere. With the clock winding down into the final minutes of the fourth quarter, the Orioles knew that they couldn’t lose. They had worked too hard to let it slip away and besides, it was senior night. Senior night was the last chance some of the players had to prove their abilities to the home crowd.
As the Oriole point guard drove in, in hopes of drawing a quick foul in order to get the opponent in bonus, one of the players from the opposing team pushed her to the ground. The referee blew his whistle and a technical foul was called for two free shots. The crowd roared in excitement because if this point was made the undefeated Orioles would receive the conference title. The ending of this game, however, was one far more special than anyone would have imagined. The senior girl that always sat on the bench due to a season-ending injury didn’t know it, but was in for quite a surprise. The head coach walked down the bench to the saddened girl who could not run, but only walk with a slight limp due to the enormous brace supporting her left knee, which suffered an ACL injury early in the season.
“Do you want to shoot the free throws?” he asked as he noticed the crowd staring intently at him.
“Are you kidding me, I’d love to!!” she exclaimed as she hopped quickly out of her seat.
The question was an easy one for her because she knew this was the last time she would be able to step onto the court and play basketball as a “Lady Oriole.” As she walked over to the table to check into the game, the crowd jumped to their feet in happiness that, after missing every single game of the season except the first, she will be able to step onto the court again. The girl appeared nervous, but her face displayed a bright smile as she listened to the support from the large crowd that filled the entire gym. Her teammates gave her a hug as she walked onto the court, but the referees seemed to be quite frazzled that it was taking so long, so she quickly walked up to the line. The crowd was so silent you could hear the crunch of a piece of popcorn in someone’s mouth all the way across the gym. As the ball flew through the air, everyone held their breath in hope that it would go in, but it didn’t. The girl was nervous because she only had one more chance to make the free shot and seal the deal. As the referee passed her the ball, she focused on the rim for several seconds. The ball flew through the air with smooth rotation and…SWISH the basket went in. At this point in time, the dead silence turned into cheers and screams because the Orioles had won the game.
I’m sure the girl will never forget that night, the night when she was given one last unexpected chance to play basketball as a Lady Oriole and enjoy the rush of excitement from the crowd as she swished the free throw to help her team come out victorious. Her story was one of the top headlines in almost all of the local papers the next day as so many people were there to witness the intense victory. Her courage in keeping a positive attitude while supporting her team on the bench was the talk of the town for several weeks after the big game.